Nuggets run over Rockets in second half

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The Nuggets made 61.9 percent of their shots in the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 36-22. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle )

Bored with scoring against the Rockets’ interpretation of defense, JaVale McGee, who knows the difference between layup lines and a dunk contest, found a way to keep himself entertained.

By then, late in the third quarter with the Rockets mixing in a rapidly disappearing defense in between turnovers, McGee decided to challenge the backboard – and gravity – instead.

McGee flipped the ball high off the backboard, catching it with one hand as he spiked it home to demonstrate how easily the Nuggets could toy with the Rockets. After rallying in the second quarter long enough to make it seem like a contest, the Rockets returned to defending and handling the ball so sloppily, they gave themselves no chance. The Nuggets brushed them aside, 105-95, sending the Rockets back to the depths of their seven-game losing streak.

Within two at halftime, the Rockets cratered in the third quarter the way they had struggled through their losing streak, turning the ball over rapidly with seven in the quarter, and failing to stay in front of anyone on the dribble.

The Nuggets made 61.9 percent of their shots in the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 36-22 to lead by as much as 16 on their way to a 22-point lead and boredom with the game that even a few trick shots could not alleviate.

From the start, the Rockets had seemed to make little progress with their one day of practice and brief homestand.

The way the night began, the only thing the Rockets had changed was the location. They turned the ball over rapidly and gave away the paint, ignoring the top lines of the night’s to-do list. They fell to their usual double-digit deficit – this time trailing by 11, their 12th consecutive game in which they were down by at least 10.

Late in the first quarter, however, they began taking care of the ball and by the second quarter, they packed the lane and took their chances with the Nuggets’ always-shaky 3-point shooting.

That did not work very well at first with Denver putting in their 3-pointers. But midway through the second quarter, the Rockets began gathering rebounds and forcing turnovers, triggering their break.

Harden finished one break with a tough drive through a foul for a three-point play. Lin finished an even tougher hoop for another three-point play. The Rockets ran through a 12-0 run to a 44-40 lead with 1:23 left in the half. The Nuggets recovered enough to take a 46-44 lead into the second half, but the Rockets had demonstrated how they had to play to have a chance and what would happen if they didn’t.